The Other Four
by kumatakarada
Summary: Fukuda Tomoi, recently promoted to One-Star, Ritsuki Eva, One-Star club president, Kaoru Nanami, No-Star, and Koyama Ango, Two-Star club president. In the grand scheme of things, they weren't anyone important and nothing they were doing really mattered. They were just four students, another four faces in the crowd, doing their best to survive at Honnouji Academy. [OCxOC Femslash]


**A/N: This fic is also posted on Archive of our Own and some of the formatting looks better there. It also has tags and the full summary. /works/2336876/chapters/5149718**

Chapter 1- Out of all the Stars in the Sky, You Chose me.

An alarm clock was going off. The digital beep wasn't something he had gotten used to yet. After a few minutes, the sleepy mind of Fukuda Tomoi realized that the beeping sound was coming from the new digital clock resting on top of his new nightstand that was next to his new bed. Everything was new, but he supposed that's what happens when you get promoted up a star. His hand aimlessly pressed around the clock until he hit the snooze button.

Tomoi sat up in his bed, taking in his new bedroom. The One-Star residence had actually came with most of the furniture and other necessities. Anything that had come from his old home was still inside cardboard boxes or in their new basement. It had only been a day since they moved in and Tomoi didn't feel like unpacking just yet. It wasn't laziness, but more like there was nothing in the boxes that he really needed at the moment.

When he actually got out of bed, it really set in how big the room was. He certainly wouldn't consider it huge, but it was bigger than he was used to. In fact, Tomoi could probably unpack most of his boxes and still have room, but then again, he didn't exactly own a lot of things to begin with.

Putting those thoughts aside, he made his way to the bathroom. He had his own now, and it was inside as well, just a quick walk down the hall.

Tomoi entered his bathroom with a yawn. He stretched slightly before making his way over to the shower.

Consistent flow of comfortably warm water was also a new luxury. Tomoi had found himself hard-pressed to actually get out of the shower, but he didn't want to be late for class.

When it finally came to getting dressed, Tomoi found himself staring in the mirror somewhat awkwardly. His slightly damp grayish brown hair was a bit messy and his black eyes still had a bit of sleep in them. His new uniform was seemingly the same as his old one minus the giant singular star on the front and matching star pin on the collar. He turned, admiring the uniform from different angles. Honestly he never expected to become a One-Star. He attributed it all to the club president, but she was bound to tell him otherwise and assure him it was because of his hardwork. Tomoi decided that he would let her have it; it was better than making her upset.

Once he had everything that he needed packed away in his school bag, he left his room and made his way towards the kitchen, which was the closest to the front door. Tomoi had found his mother in the kitchen, going through cabinets and looking over appliances. It wasn't as if she was confused by how they worked or anything like that, but rather as if she was still taking in how new everything was. He felt the same way.

"Hi Mom."

The woman turned around and gave her son a smile, "Good morning Tomoi! I knew you were up, but I didn't expect you to be ready so soon. Though, you always have left for school early."

"Yeah, I was just about to take off actually.."

"Really? I was going to make breakfast. Here, let me see if I can get you something quick to eat," she had turned to look through the fridge, but before she had the door fully open, Tomoi spoke up.

"No, Mom, its fine, really."

She looked up from the fridge and turned towards Tomoi. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm used to it so.." He watched as a slight frown became evident on her face.

His mother sighed, "Alright, if you say so. Have a good day at school."

Tomoi nodded, "I will, oh and I might be home late. Eva and Nanami said they wanted to celebrate me getting promoted up a star."

The smile returned to her face, "Those two are so sweet. Tell them I said hello."

"I will." Tomoi started to walk over to the door. "See you later Mom."

"Bye sweetie. Love you."

He paused with the knob of the half opened door in his hand. Looking back at his mother, Tomoi gave her a small smile, "Love you too."

The rail-car that carried students up to the school was mostly empty at this time in the morning. Tomoi lived by the first stop in the One-Star district and there were barely any people on it when he stepped on. The only students who really needed to get to school this early were the club presidents who had morning meetings to attend. Tomoi was technically the vice-president of a club and was allowed in the meetings, but that wasn't his only reason for willingly waking up so early. That lied with the president herself, who had just gotten onto the rail-car. Once she noticed him she waved and walked over to him.

Ritsuki Eva was the president of the animal care-taking club, and unlike most other presidents, she was a One-Star. She was shorter than Tomoi, being only a few inches past his shoulders. Her light pink hair was short, not even coming close to grazing her shoulders, had a bit of a fluff to it, and there was also a black ribbon tied in it.

She spoke up when she was next to him. "Good morning Tomoi."

"Hey, morning."

"You look good, ah wait... I mean, the uniform looks good, on you." She stumbled on her words a bit. "It suits you."

"Thanks."

Eva looked around at the other few students that were aboard the rail-car with them. "Nanami isn't here?"

"I don't feel like she should have to get up this early just for today. She also insisted on doing all the preparations for that party too, so she could be busy with that."

She was silent for a moment. The only sound between them being the car starting to move.

"Are you worried about her?" Tomoi asked, breaking the short silence. "You shouldn't be, I mean, she isn't going to let herself be late for the tenth time this month."

"Yeah, you're probably right."

The mostly empty car had begun to fill up at a fast rate when it stopped in the Two-Star district. Club presidents poured in, each one sporting their own unique uniform representing whatever their club was. Being surrounded by all of them made Tomoi feel a bit insignificant and intimidated, despite this being a daily occurrence. Even though he had been promoted, he still felt so far below them. That feeling of insignificance only grew when the rail car had moved into the shadows belonging to the tall buildings of the Three-Star district. There were no stops. The structures stood on both sides, but their shade was not intimidating it just held a presence. Tomoi always felt more at ease once they exited out of the shadow.

The club presidents hurried out once they arrived at Honnouji, the punishments for being late to the morning meetings being much more worse than what normal students suffered when they were late to their classes. Tomoi caught a few of them glancing at him and Eva as they exited. He supposed that the two of them did stick out a bit. Most One-Star clubs were wiped out, promoted to Two-Stars, or eventually merged with another club. Their club wasn't supposed to have lasted this long. The two of them had gotten used to it, and the stares felt slightly less judgmental now that he had been promoted to One-Star. Tomoi shrugged it off and wondered if Eva even noticed.

They were walking through the hall towards the meeting when he spoke up again, "I don't think I'm going to go in this one."

Since Tomoi wasn't the actual president of the club he really had no obligations to attend the meetings. Being the vice president would let him go in if he wanted to and it was his job to go if Eva was ever absent, but that was about it. He was asking himself why he chose to get up early if he didn't feel like going into the meeting. Tomoi had been confused with himself a lot recently.

"That's fine." She had stopped walking to look at him. "Is everything okay though?"

"Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. Its just, you know..."

"You don't have to try to explain yourself. I understand if you don't want to. ...I just appreciate you coming with me." The smile Eva gave him was genuine. "I'll see you after class then." She continued down the hall and Tomoi remained standing where he was until she was out of sight.

He wondered about his feelings for a moment, but decided that he shouldn't think too much about things that couldn't put his life in danger while he was at school.

The halls were pretty empty. Most of the students who were at school already were in meetings. It was too late for him to go back on his decision because they didn't let people into meetings late. Being left to his own devices Tomoi simply decided to walk around the school.

He stayed in the general area of where his first class was located. There was no point in arriving so early if he still ended up being late. The calm hallways were a nice breath of fresh air. Honnouji seemed less dangerous before school officially started for the day. Tomoi did not have a way to actually check the time but figured that the more students entered the school, the closer it got to the start of classes. Tomoi did not know what it was like when the first bell rang at more normal high schools but he imagined it wasn't like how it was at Honnouji.

Delinquents or otherwise, everyone would always hurry to class. The punishment for too many consecutive tardies was harsh but one of the few life threatening things that could be avoided. Tomoi walked to his class but not as the fast as the other students around him as he really wasn't in any real danger of being late.

"Tomoi! Tomoi hey wait up!" A voice called from behind Tomoi. He turned to see who it was, but they had ran ahead so that they would be in front of him.

One of the first things anyone would notice about Kaoru Nanami would be her uniform. She wore a winter No-Star uniform, though it was exactly same as the other uniforms except for the long sleeves. She was around the same height as Tomoi and had long blonde hair. Her long bangs were kept out her face with a plain, white headband.

"Morning Nanami, glad you made it here on time."

"Yeah, me too! My sisters were being a real pain and I almost missed the last rail-car!"

"I couldn't imagine having three younger sisters. I honestly don't know how you do it."

"Well... it isn't that bad!" Nanami waved her hand dismissively. "I've gotten used to it. They're just kids so I can't get too mad at them."

"I understand, but uh-,"

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"Well no, just, you have the same first class as Eva right?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Isn't it on the other side of the school?"

Nanami paused for a moment and then realization hit her. "Oh my god you're right-gotta go talk to you later bye!" As soon as the rushed together sentence left her mouth, Nanami ran down the hallway. Tomoi sincerely hoped she made it to her class on time.

He continued on his way to his own class. The halls were practically empty so he picked up the pace. As soon as he had the handle of the door in hand, the bell rang. Tomoi sighed, opened the door, and stepped inside.

"You're late Fukuda."

Tomoi flinched slightly at the voice of his teacher.

"This is your first tardy in a while. Try not to make it a habit."

"Yes ma'am." He walked to his desk without another word. Tomoi sometimes wondered if classes at Honnouji really had a point. Most teachers didn't care about teaching, some cared too much, and others tried to act like they were teaching at some normal high school. Even so, he took his notebook out. There was no point in thinking too hard about things that didn't put his life in danger.

In between classes there was a brief 10 minute passing period. Tomoi, Eva, and Nanami would always meet up during this time as they had their second class together. The two girls had already arrived their usual meeting spot and Tomoi walked over to them.

Nanami greeted him with a grin, "Tomoi, Eva and I were just talking about how amazing the little party we're throwing for you is going to be. I really think I've outdone myself compared to what we did when Eva got promoted, but I won't ruin the surprise for you!"

"We're going to hold it in the club room right after school since there's no meeting today," Eva added.

"Thanks you two, I'm really looking forward to it, but you know you didn't have to do all this just for me becoming a One-Star."

"There he goes again!" Nanami sighed. "We're doing this because you're our friend and we're happy for you!"

"That's right, Tomoi, and well... any accomplishment like this should be celebrated! Becoming a One-Star is a big deal."

"Yeah. Yeah, both of you are right. I'm sorry, I've been feeling a bit out of it lately. I really do appreciate everything you do for me."

"Is everything okay? You know, if you're comfortable with it, you can tell us about anything," Eva said with a bit of worry in her tone.

"I know. I just think it's because of something I've had on my mind recently. Don't worry about it."

"Alright, if you say so."

"Guys, I just thought of something!" Nanami spoke up and the other two turned towards her.

"What is it Nanami?" Tomoi asked.

"I guess this may sound kind of cheesy, but I think we should make today a turning point!"

Eva looked a bit confused, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well with Tomoi being promoted we should all strive to for something. We can make goals! It'll be like New Year's Resolutions but we actually keep them!"

"So normal resolutions?" Tomoi questioned.

"I think it sounds like a pretty good idea Nanami," Eva said. "What kind of goals did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking to try to stop being late so often! I don't even want to think about what will happen if I'm late one more time this month!" Nanami forced a nervous laugh.

As if on cue, Tomoi and Eva saw two male students walking toward them. Nanami turned her head to see what her two friends were looking at and her face almost instantly paled.

Members of Honnouji's disciplinary committee were easy to recognize. If their armbands weren't dead giveaways, they could usually be identified by their terrifying and imposing presence. One of them was holding a sheet of paper, which he looked over before speaking.

"Kaoru Nanami."

For a moment Nanami was seriously considering just breaking out in a mad dash. She knew that one of the windows in this hallway overlooked the pool so she might be able to survive the jump. She could also try to trick them into running into some of the spikes around the campus, but Nanami didn't run.

"Yes, that's me," she said in attempt to be calm, her voice shaking.

"Today was your tenth tardy for the month."

"Oh was it?" She chuckled nervously even though playing dumb couldn't save her life. "I mean, around this time last month I had almost double that so..." She gave up. There was no reasoning with them. Nanami sighed. "What's my punishment this time?"

He looked over the paper once more. "Sewing club experiment."

Suddenly, getting torn up by broken glass and crashing into the ice cold pool didn't sound so bad.

"For just being late? Seriously?! But-!" Nanami stopped herself from digging herself into an even deeper hole, but she couldn't imagine how this could possible get worse.

"You are to come immediately."

Nanami didn't have to time to realize what was going on until it had already happened. The two had grabbed her by the arms and were already starting down the hall. She looked back at Tomoi and Eva but they didn't speak. She couldn't think of anything to yell to them that could express the feeling of "You guys! This is probably the last time we'll see each other! I'm going to die."

Oh god. I'm going to die.

She didn't start crying until she was out of sight.

The scene that had just unfolded did not feel real to Tomoi and Eva. They knew that it had just happened, but they did not want to accept the hand fate had just dealt to them. It happened too fast. It was too much.

The bell rang.

The two started walking to class, but the dread surrounding them might as well have been visible.

Eva was the first to speak up. "Do you think she'll be okay?"

Tomoi almost stopped walking to look at her.

It was a stupid question and they both knew it. She probably knew that more than he did though. Tomoi couldn't give her an answer. He didn't want to spout out a lie they both knew was false but saying no and accepting their friend was dead wasn't something he wanted to do either.

He noticed she had picked up her pace.

Right. We can't be late.

Nanami was tightly and uncomfortably strapped to what she could only assume was an operating table. Her blindfolded eyes were alternating between being clenched shut in anticipation of pain and wide open in fear. She could hear movement and voices above her. The blindfold was surprisingly thin and she could make out a few shadows. The red light did not qualm any of her fears and Nanami was positive when she heard an unfamiliar voice say "Begin" that her heart stopped.

There was a prick at her forehead. She was positive it was a needle. The prick slowly became a stab and she worried they were going to drive a needle right through her skull. Luckily they must have stopped when they reached bone. There was another prick of a needle. Then there were more. It was slow and agonizing and she didn't understand why this was happening. Nanami couldn't tell if it was blood or sweat dampening the blindfold.

She wondered why they didn't numb her. She wondered why they didn't just put her under. She wondered if it was okay to wish for a quick death so this could just be over. She could tell she was close to blacking out and wondered if it was okay for her to be happy about that.

The three of them normally ate lunch together in the cafeteria, but today's situation was not normal. Tomoi and Eva were sitting at the same table. Their lonely silence was blocking out the noise around them. They had not exchanged a single word since Eva's question.

It almost seemed morbid but halfway through their first year at Honnouji the three of them had devised a plan of what to do in case one of them died. Depending on who it was, one of them was supposed to go to the deceased student's home and tell their family. The other was to gather up their friend's belongings and bring them to the family. They hoped their actions would help soften the blow of the death of a child and being kicked out of their home on the same day.

Tomoi thought about Nanami's family, her three younger sisters, and the pit in his stomach just got deeper. It was threatening to swallow him up. He knew Eva had been fighting tears ever since Nanami got taken away, but he couldn't think of anything to say to her. Anything he thought of was a simple phrase of small comfort that held no meaning. He thought about how he shouldn't think too much about things that couldn't put his life in danger, but maybe it was his thinking that had put Nanami's life in danger.

"If I had gone to that meeting." His voice was barely a whisper and Eva looked up at him. She didn't fully hear what was said but just knew he said something.

"Hey! What are you two doing looking so sad like that?" A voice called out from behind them. They didn't have time to turn and see who it was because the person calling to them had already quickly moved in front of them.

It was Eva who jumped up first and hugged Nanami. All the tears she had been fighting had come out all at once. People were starting to stare, but she didn't care at all.

Nanami looked mostly fine. The only thing different about her was the fact that the top of her head, forehead included, was completely wrapped up in bandages. While she reassured Eva that everything was going to be okay and that she was fine, Nanami looked to Tomoi. She was smiling and clearly invited to him to join in on the hug. He got up from the table but simply stood next to the two girls. Tomoi was truly relieved and happy despite what his actions might have said.

"I'm glad you're okay Nanami."

Eva nodded in agreement and pulled herself away from the hug, wiping a few tears from her eyes. The girl's tears had left some slightly noticeable stains on the shoulder of Nanami's uniform, but she didn't say anything.

"Eva cheer up, I'm fine! Just look at me! Honestly if you keep this up people are going to think I'm some jerk who likes to make cute girls cry!" Nanami said this with a grin. Eva laughed lightly and all three of them were smiling.

They sat back down at their usual table, and inevitably, the question was asked.

"Nanami," Tomoi started, "what did they do to you?"

"Uh well..." She looked around nervously and lowered her voice. "I'm not exactly at the liberty to say that at the moment."

"Oh."

"But..." Nanami once again glanced around and hushed her voice even more. She leaned in and the other two followed suit.

"But?"

"Well, I saw their president and he was... surprisingly cute!" Nanami had brought her voice back to her normal volume when she said the last part of her statment and grinned at her friends.

They supposed her special talent was lightening the mood.

"I think you need to get your priorities in order," Tomoi commented.

"Come on, I'm fine! Now that this is behind me, I'm allowed to joke about it."

"I guess."

Any contintuation of their conversation was stopped by the voice of the transfer student who was making quite the name for herself. "Life Fiber Synchronize: Kamui Senketsu!"

Everyone in the cafeteria had turned their heads to see the infamous Matoi Ryuko surrounded by a group of students. Their decorated One-Star uniforms made them recognizable as the members of some club. At a generally safe distance from the fight, Mankanshoku Mako was sitting, cheering for her friend.

"You can do it, Ryuko!"

"Really, at lunch? Geez," Nanami commented unamused.

The arrival of the transfer student had certainly made lives harder for the other students at Honnouji. More people were making clubs and the rivalry between them became more prevelent. It was easy to get caught in the crossfire of two clubs fighting or Matoi fighting against one. To anyone who didn't plan on actually fighting, the girl with the scissor blade and strange battle bikini was just another danger to avoid.

"What club is it this time?" Nanami asked, expecting either Tomoi or Eva to have the answer.

"The uniforms look really familiar," Tomoi responded.

"It's the Reading and Writing Club, but it's better known as the Literature Club. The president, Koyama Ango, has a reputation of being pretty brutal," Eva said after a bit of thought.

"Eva how do you know all that?" Nanami asked.

"Well, club presidents are always talking about each other..."

"So you guys gossip? How mean! I'm kidding. No-Stars talk about everyone. You wouldn't believe the crazy rumors I've heard!" Nanami paused. "Nothing about you guys though!" She let out a nervous chuckle. "Anyways, what's so brutal about this Koyama girl?"

"You don't remember what happened last year?"

Nanami shook her head.

"Well last year the clubs for reading and writing were originally separate clubs. They had a bit of a rivalry but it was mostly friendly."

"Now I remember," Tomoi cut in. "Koyama was a member of one of those clubs but she took both presidents out and merged the two clubs. She also takes out a lot of new clubs before they can get on their feet, apparently."

"Huh. Yeah she does sound pretty dangerous," Nanami said while thinking. She looked back over at the fight.

"Decapitation Mode!"

"So where's this Koyama girl then? Nobody over there fighting really looks like they could be the club president."

The naked bodies of the defeated students were now laying about the cafeteria. Matoi had transformed back to normal and was already leaving with her friend by her side. The remaining students simply continued what they were doing before the fight had began.

"I've heard that part of Koyama's strategy is learning about her opponents before she fights them." Eva explained.

"What?" Nanami looked back at the students on the ground. "So she just sent people who probably looked up to her to fight knowing they'd lose? Then she uses their loss to benefit herself?" She scowled before turning back. "That's awful."

"Yeah," Tomoi said, "but it's in style these days."

School had just ended ten minutes ago. Eva was sitting on the table in the center of her club room. She was lightly kicking her legs as they dangled off the side of the table. Tomoi was sitting at the table normally. They were both waiting for Nanami.

The door to the room opened after a light knock. Nanami strolled in with a grin stretching from ear to ear on her face. She was holding a plastic grocery in her hands and the bandages wrapped around her head were now gone, replaced with a simple one on her forehead.

"Sorry I'm late but I have some news," Nanami started as she walked over to the table. "The sewing club called me back."

Worry and fear instantly crossed their faces, though the fact that Nanami was present and alive made them less afraid of the news that was to come.

"Turns out they were so surprised I survived, they wanted me to join their club!" she said excitedly.

"Really? That's great Nanami!" Tomoi said, standing up from his seat.

Eva hopped down from the table and smiled, "I guess we're celebrating two things then!"

"Well don't get too excited yet. The position is just inventory." Nanami waved one hand dismissively while the other went through the bag she was carrying.

Tomoi faked an overdramatic sigh. "There she goes being humble again."

"Didn't we all agree any promotion was a big deal?" Eva added.

"You're right. I should be more excited about this! I cheated death and came out victorious! This is a party so I should act like it!" Nanami pulled out three handmade party hats out of the bag. "Here you guys go."

Things suddenly felt a lot more festive once they put the hats on. Nanami set the bag on the table, revealing that it was filled with confetti made from scrap paper varying from old homework assignments to newspapers.

"Now before we really started..." Nanami rummaged through her school bag and pulled out three sheets of paper and some pens. "I was thinking we should write our resolutions and goals down!"

In unspoken agreement, Eva and Tomoi took the sheets of paper and something to write with. Once all three of them had finished, Nanami took their papers without looking. Without a second thought she tore the papers up and mixed the shreds in with the confetti. Nanami tossed the bag up in the air and it was raining paper.

Tomoi didn't understand her actions. Though maybe he wasn't supposed to? Everything was so carefree and they didn't have to worry about anything. They were laughing about paper because in the moment it was the most hilarious thing. Their lives weren't in danger so he was allowed to think about whatever he wanted. Tomoi didn't though. He laughed, smiled, and all of his thoughts were focused on the moment. He didn't worry about anything. It was some of the most fun three nobodies could have.

**A/N: This whole story has been such a work in progress for so long, but I'm so glad I'm finally getting to post it! Basically I've always loved Honnouji but was sad we never really got to see more of it as an actual school if that makes sense. So this fic is going to be the life of some students at the school. It'll be following the main story so spoilers. Also I'll just say it again none of the main characters, like Ryuko, Satsuki, Mako, or the Devas will be present here. Thank you for taking the time to read my fic and I hope you're looking forward to the next chapter as much as I am! My tumblr is magnoliabaalbuster if you want to send me an ask or anything like that. There's also a link to my twitter there too!**


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